Fracking foes challenge Ohio earthquake assurances

April 23, 2014

Written by JULIE CARR SMYTH, AP Statehouse Correspondent

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A concerned citizens' group in a northeast Ohio region where earthquakes have been tied to fracking says it won't take the word of state regulators that new permitting guidelines adequately address public safety.

A state geologist's finding released last week for the first time linked earthquakes in the Utica Shale to hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a technique used to access oil and gas deposits. The state's review called the link "probable."

The finding led Ohio to issue a moratorium on fracking within three miles of the seismic activity's epicenter and to issue new permit conditions viewed as among the nation's strictest.

The anti-fracking group says a Youngstown State University geologist has identified 12 earthquakes near fracking activity.